senior officials here at the pentagon have decided it will take new military leadership to do it. defense secretary robert gates mcmckiernan in afghanistan last week to break the bad news, but waited until today to announce it. >> i asked for the resignation of general david mckiernan. >> gates and obama relieving him of command. when they did that and relieved him of command as the lead american commander of the war in afghanistan, that was the first time since general truman fired douglas mcarthur during the korean war that a president relieved a four-star commanding general in the middle of the war he was leading. when president obama did that it was the first time in 58 years anything like that happened in this country, and then he did it again. after he fired the man who was running the war when he took office, the replacement general that president obama sent to lead the war thereafter was this guy, general stanley mcchrystal. there was a immediate contracult around him as around david petraeus. a year after general mcchrisle tal took command, he, too, was fired by president